Jeremy Clarkson is still awaiting the outcome of an inquiry into his conduct, as one newspaper claimed the BBC could be on the verge of sacking him. The Top Gear host's future has been unclear for two weeks since he was suspended over his infamous "fracas" with producer Oisin Tymon. Radio 2 Breakfast Show host Chris Evans has ruled himself out of the running for the Top Gear job, saying reports that he is set to take over from the suspended Jeremy Clarkson are "nonsense". The presenter, alongside co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond, was scheduled to take part in four live Top Gear shows in Norway this week, but it was announced on Sunday they had been postponed. More »Jeremy Clarkson In Limbo Amid Sacking Report

Investigators are also examining the black box voice recorder of the doomed Germanwings aircraft in the hunt for clues as to what caused the Airbus A320 to crash in the French Alps without issuing a mayday call. Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it was "likely that there were some British nationals" on the Airbus A320. The plane was en route from Barcelona in Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany, when it came down on Tuesday morning less than an hour into its flight at Meolans-Revels, between Barcelonnette and Digne. Among those on board were 16 children and two teachers from the same school in Haltern Am See in Germany were on the plane, returning home after an exchange visit. More »Germanwings Plane Crash Recovery Resumes

The BBC will not renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract as a Top Gear presenter after an investigation concluded he assaulted his producer, according to reports. The 54-year-old is said to have lost his cool after it emerged he was unable to eat steak and chips after a day's filming at the Simonstone Hall hotel near Hawes in North Yorkshire after they had stopped serving food for the day. Lord Hall, the director general of the BBC said in a statement: "It is with great regret that I have told Jeremy Clarkson today that the BBC will not be renewing his contract. He added: "The BBC must now look to renew Top Gear for 2016. More »BBC drops Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear over steak and chips 'fracas'

LONDON (Reuters) - At least three British nationals were killed when a German Airbus ploughed into an Alpine mountainside on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Wednesday. "We currently believe that three British people have been killed in this tragedy but we can't rule out the possibility there are further British people involved," Hammond told reporters. "The level of information on the flight manifest doesn't allow us to rule out that possibility. ... More »At least three Britons killed in Alps plane crash -foreign minister

The ex-boyfriend of Amanda Knox has arrived at Italy's highest court where they are expected to learn if their convictions for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher are upheld. More »Meredith murder pair await ruling

The crisis in Balfour Beatty's UK construction business has resulted in the company making further provisions of £118m - on top of a £205m hit already announced. The company, which issued four profit warnings in 2014, had said in January that recommendations by auditors would result in a £70m additional hit to profits in the UK construction division. The results statement said: "In January 2015, having just received the results of the KPMG review on the operational issues in the UK construction business, the board announced £70m of contract write-downs and that it would also assess the overall level of contract risk provisions in that business - the outcome of which would be announced at the full-year results in March 2015. Balfour Beatty, which has a contract to help convert London's Olympic Stadium into a new home for West Ham United FC, confirmed there would be no dividend but it hoped to resume payments to shareholders next year. More »Balfour Beatty Makes New £118m Risk Provision

The Scottish National Party (SNP) would try to block Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron from forming a government if the result of a national election on May 7 is inconclusive, former SNP leader Alex Salmond said. The SNP, which polls suggest could emerge as the third biggest party in the House of Commons, would vote against any attempt by Cameron to form a Conservative minority government if, as expected, the election does not produce a clear winner. "The Tories (Conservatives) would have to go effectively straight for a vote of confidence ... and we'd be voting against," said Salmond, who is standing for a Commons seat and is expected to lead SNP strategy there. Despite losing a referendum on Scottish independence last year, the SNP is benefiting from a surge in nationalist sentiment and could win a record number of seats, which could potentially hand it the balance of power. More »Scottish nationalists would block second Cameron government - Salmond

Labour and the Conservatives have squeezed support for the smaller parties as the general election approaches and are now level-pegging on 35%, according to polling. More »Smaller parties squeezed in poll

The paedophile brother of Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams will today begin an appeal against his conviction and sentence for raping and sexually abusing his daughter. More »Liam Adams to appeal conviction

Britain's banks will pledge this week to continue investing in their branch networks "for decades to come" despite signing an agreement enabling them to close outlets even when they are the final one in a local community. Under the 'Access To Banking Protocol', a copy of which has been obtained by Sky News ahead of its release on Thursday, lenders will have to provide 12 weeks’ notice of any branch closure and publish an assessment of the likely impact on its customer base. "Banks will publish the results of their engagement and impact assessment, and the considerations taken into account in assessing the impact of the branch closure, subject to the removal of commercially sensitive information," the document is expected to say. However, the agreement drawn up by officials working for Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, and the British Bankers' Association (BBA), is unlikely to stall the accelerating wave of branch closures being undertaken by major high street banks across the country. More »Banks To Carry On Closing Despite Cable Deal

(Reuters) - Interest rates in Britain are likely to rise despite inflation falling to zero, Bank of England Deputy Governor Minouche Shafik told Kent Business in comments reported on Wednesday. The policymaker said the main reason behind lower inflation was a rapid decrease in oil prices and the negative effect of an appreciating British pound on UK firms' profits. "If you take out those temporary external factors, the underlying core inflation is not that low," Shafik told Kent Business. She said the central expectation of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee is that the next move will be up, the publication reported. More »Bank of England's Shafik says interest rates likely to rise - Kent Business

Armed officers involved in the fatal shooting of a suspected gang member whose death sparked the worst riots in modern English history have been cleared of any wrongdoing by the police watchdog following a three-and-a-half year investigation. More »Police cleared over Duggan shooting